Chicken and Bacon Fried Rice

Serves: 3-4

Ingredients:

• Rice:
  • 1.25 c. white rice, preferably short- or medium-grain
  • 2.5 c. water
• Velvet Marinade and Chicken:
  • 1 large egg white
  • 1 tbs. Chinese rice wine or sherry
  • 1 tsp. kosher salt
  • 1 tbs. cornstarch
  • 1/2 lb. boneless, skinless chicken breast, cut into 1/4-inch cubes
• Aromatics:
  • 1 tbs. garlic, minced
  • 1 tbs. ginger, minced
• Sauce:
  • 1/2 c. chicken stock
  • 3 tbs. soy sauce
  • 2 tbs. unseasoned Japanese rice vinegar
• 1 c. diced carrot
• 1 c. fresh peas
• 1/2 c. smoked bacon, diced
• 3 fat scallions, cut into 1/2-inch nuggets
• 2 tbs. Chinese chives or cilantro, finely chopped
• 2 large eggs, beaten
• kosher salt and black pepper, to taste

Steps:

1. Mix velvet marinade until smooth. Add chicken. Seal and refrigerate several hours, or overnight.
2. Cook rice: bring water to boil, add rice, cover, lower heat to minimum, cook for 15 minutes. Fluff, and cool.
3. Combine aromatics. Combine sauce.
4. In a saucepan with rapidly boiling water, blanch carrots for 15 seconds. Drain and chill. Blanch peas until tender-crisp, 15-30 seconds. Drain and chill.
5. Bring small pot of water to steaming near-simmer. Add chicken, stir gently to separate, and cook until outside turns 95 percent white, less than 1 minute. Drain, flush with cold water. The chicken will be pinkish in center.
6. Heat large, heavy skillet. Add bacon, reduce heat to moderate. Toss bacon until it turns golden and renders most of its fat, 1.5-2 minutes. Remove bacon to a dish, leaving fat in pan.
7. Heat pan to moderate high. Add oil, swirl to glaze. Add:
   • Aromatics, stir 10-15 seconds until fragrant.
   • Scallions, toss for 1 minute.
   • Carrot, toss to mix.
   • Bacon and rice, toss until heated through. Add more oil if needed to prevent sticking.
8. Wisk chives into beaten eggs, and add in thin stream, toss to blend. Stir sauce and add, toss until rice has absorbed almost all of the liquid.
9. Add peas and chicken, toss until chicken is cooked through, about 20-30 seconds. Season to taste.

Notes:

• I used my usual long grain rice, unwashed. No problem. However, now that I notice that this "fried rice" has more in common with risotto, I'm tempted to try arborio rice.
• As always, take the split-second timings with a grain of salt. Almost everything here I cook longer (often on higher heat), with splendid results. The biggest discrepancy was the bacon: it took me more like 5 minutes to get the bacon suitably golden and rendered. My chicken cubes were more like 3/8-inch, and were cooked through (although very soft and juicy) in the velvet stage. I used frozen peas, overcooked them during the blanch phase, and added them with the carrots. Nonetheless, they blended seemlessly into the dish, which is what I wanted. (I never cared much for peas, anyway.)

Keywords: Chinese, Rice.